85: Should A Child’s Disability be Part of Their Parent’s Identity? w/ Author Emily Ladau and Amanda Griffith-Atkins, LMFT

Like most other parents, my sense of identity forever changed with the arrival of my disabled child. And in many ways, it’s helped me to embrace (at least on good days!) a lifestyle I used to resent. But I’ve noticed a pushback from the disability community in claiming our child’s disabilities as part of our own identities. So, of course, we had to examine this controversial and intimate topic with the best of the best. In this conversation with famed disability activist, speaker, and author of Demystifying Disability, Emily Ladau and Amanda Griffith-Atkins guest from Ep. 81 and mom to a disabled teen, we tackle questions like: Is it ok for us as parents to find identity in our children’s disabilities? If so, where is the line? IS there a line? How can I respect both my child’s lived experience and my own? Can I share those experiences on social media? How can parents and disabled people soften towards each other and put down the proverbial weapons? Links: Check out our sponsor WorthyBrands Eye and Port Patches. Purchase Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau via Penguin House or Amazon. Listen to The Accessible Stall podcast Follow Emily on Instagram. Follow Amanda on Instagram. Follow Madeline on Instagram. Listen to Ep. 81: Health Anxiety w/ Amanda Griffith-Atkins, LMFT Listen to Ep. 54: Disabled Adult Perspective w/ Erica Stearns Listen to Ep. 77: To Those Who Cannot Say, “I Wouldn’t Have them Any Other Way”